Napier woman Patricia Dick, who drove ambulances and lived at Tower of London during WWII, turns 100

Patricia Dick said she is most grateful for the sunshine. Photo / Connull Lang

She’s lived in the Tower of London, drove ambulances, and fell in love with a prisoner of war - now Patricia Dick can add a 100th birthday party to her remarkable life story.

Patricia, who lives on Napier Hill, celebrates her birthday today at a party over the weekend. She said she was most grateful for sunshine and her independence.

“I just say aren’t I lucky to be alive, and living in my own house.”

She still has her driver’s licence, despite not driving for the last six months, and her renowned driving ability set her up with an interesting role in World War II.

“Because I was too young to go into officer training, they asked me if I would go to Camberley to the driving school.”

As young British woman working in Camberley in Surrey in 1941 she had come close to meeting Queen Elizabeth II, who came from Windsor to learn to drive the day after Patricia moved jobs.

Patricia Dick at 24-years-old was compared to Queen Elizabeth II.

When she left Camberley to move to London she worked for the Scots Guard at the Tower of London, drove ambulances and moved the medical officers around.

“I was living in the wall all around the Tower which had little turrets.”

She recalled they had to walk through the Traitors’ Gate, an entrance which was used by prisoners of the Tudors to get to the Tower of London, during a blackout with only the light of her torch to get back to the turret.

Patricia said she had been there when London’s Heathrow Airport was being built as she had to drive the medical officer to the area where they worked and had an army base.

Patricia enjoyed the work as an ambulance and service driver and said there was one vehicle she was desperate to drive but wasn’t allowed.

“I always wanted to drive a tank, but they wouldn’t let me drive it because they said I was too little to reach the controls.”

Patricia Dick with an ambulance she drove in World War II.

She said a tremendous life moment was when the war ended and she celebrated at Trafalgar Square in London.

“I remember the crowd was so thick. I was just about off my feet, squashed between people, it was a mass of happy people, no grumpiness or vandalism, it was a very happy and joyous occasion.”

She moved to Hawke’s Bay in 1948 with her New Zealand husband Douglas Dick, who she met during the war.

Douglas was part of a convoy that was redirected to England and based near her home. He had asked her father for petrol and was invited into the house for a cup of tea.

“I remember coming in from the garden and thinking who is that rude man in our hall because he had his hat on, and Englishmen would never go indoors with their hat on.

Patricia Dick with her letter from King Charles III for her 100th birthday. Photo / Connull Lang

Douglas was taken as a prisoner of war and during that time had asked her to get engaged, through censored letters allowed out by German authorities via the Red Cross.

At first, she declined him, and then later accepted after he was released.

“I felt very sorry for him because he had been locked up for four years and even put in solitary confinement.”

Together they moved to New Zealand to Wellington and then to Hawke’s Bay in 1948 where they had three children.

She took up a passion for artwork, especially painting, and wrote a book called Impressions of Napier with copies sold across New Zealand and overseas.

Patricia said her best advice to others who want to make it to 100 was to stay connected and keep in touch with people.

“Almost everybody has got a telephone. Life is a two-way stretch and you have got to make an effort too.”

She planned to do exactly that and said she would celebrate her 100th birthday with family from all over the world after Cyclone Gabrielle last year left her alone with two candles and a battery radio for company on her birthday.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.